Nagpur dams fall to 58.74% as water department moves against theft from Kanhan, Pench canals

People in Nagpur city are being forced to use every drop of water carefully, even as a serious case of open water theft from rivers and canals has surfaced. Water in Totladoh, the largest dam in the district, has fallen to less than half. At such a time, some people are illegally diverting water from the Kanhan river and the Pench canals to their private fields and wells, and selling it through tankers. Given the gravity of the matter, the water resources department has begun preparing strict action.

The 16 major dams in the Nagpur division now hold a total of 4,302.42 million cubic metres (mcm) of water, or only 58.74 per cent of storage. Compared with last year, water levels are down by 5 to 6 TMC.

To stop the theft, the water resources department has decided to carry out intensive inspections of the Kanhan-Pench area and the Khaparkheda-Kanhan canals. Notices are being issued after identifying anti-social elements who have laid illegal pipelines in the river area, installed pumps or set up a system for filling tankers.

Along the 32-km stretch from the Kanhan river and Navegaon-Khairi dam to the Kanhan water treatment plant, farmers are illegally drawing water by installing pumps directly. The department has received complaints that water released into the canals for irrigation is not reaching the tail end. At many places pipelines have been broken, and at others trenches have been dug to divert water towards fields. Earlier, a case had also come to light in which water was deliberately diverted by creating leaks at three separate places in Pench's 2,300-mm-diameter main pipeline.

Besides the canals and rivers, a tanker mafia is also active within the city. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Orange City Water ran a special drive in June-July 2025, in which more than 5,000 illegal tap connections were cut. In 362 of these cases, water was being stolen before the meter, and 1,642 duplicate connections were found. The most illegal connections, 1,003, were caught in the Asinagar area.

The current condition of the district's major dams is as follows. Totladoh has a capacity of 1,166.93 mcm, but only 407.61 mcm is left, a mere 25.33 per cent of capacity. Kamthi Khairi has a useful storage capacity of 180.98 mcm and 152.72 mcm is available now, or 80.10 per cent. Khindsi has a capacity of 103.00 mcm, but 36.54 mcm remains, which is 35.48 per cent and has reached a worrying level. Nand has a capacity of 62.18 mcm and holds 41.64 mcm, or 61.38 per cent. Wadgaon has a capacity of 151.50 mcm and 83.51 mcm, or 49.60 per cent, has been recorded.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation lifts 730 to 750 MLD of raw water every day from the Pench and the Kanhan river. Of this, 520 MLD comes from Pench's four water treatment plants and 220 MLD from the Kanhan water treatment plant. According to the report, about 255 MLD of the total water lifted, or 35 to 40 per cent, is being wasted directly through leakage and theft.